Obama agenda: Hagel reaches out to key Democrats

On Chuck Hagel’s nomination, National Journal: 82 percent of National Journal’s National Security Insiders support his confirmation.

“Chuck Hagel is moving to assuage concerns raised by pro-Israel Democrats over his nomination as defense secretary, laying out a hawkish posture toward Iran and Hezbollah and apologizing for characterizing powerful activists as the ‘Jewish lobby,’” Politico writes. “In a letter to California Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Jewish Democrat, Hagel said he fully supports unilateral sanctions on Iran and condemned Hezbollah as a terrorist threat to Israel. He called it “a very poor choice of words” when he referred in a 2006 interview that the ‘Jewish lobby’ tends to ‘intimidate’ lawmakers, saying he understands how such words ‘can be construed as anti-Israel.’”

Boxer, in turn, said she supports Hagel. “After speaking extensively with Senator Hagel by phone last week and after receiving a detailed written response to my questions late today, I will support Senator Hagel’s nomination as Secretary of Defense,” she said in a statement.